Today we're using Shery's Shery Russ Designs stamps. From now until March 6 you can get Shery's line of stamps at 10% off in the STAMPlorations store!

You've probably noticed that I've been featuring Gelli prints this month and today's card is a classic example of how to work a print into a stamped design. Ready? I chose a classic stamp set of Shery's for this too, Trendy Feathers 2.

TIP: A great design, even if you don't own a MISTI or the like! Put your stamps on an acrylic block and stamp onto the cardbase and the print or PP before removing the stamps. Then trim your print or PP and line it up with the images on the cardbase and adhere it. Easy peasy. Took more time to decide where to place the enamel dots!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Today's card is a biggie. As in 5.5 x 8". Cuz I die cut some balloons using Kathryn's Big Wishes from a fun Gelli plate print and it had to be a big bunch of balloons! BTW, this die is a great one to have in your stash, for the balloon alone!

But it gets even better cuz with the Kathryn's Big Wishes stamp set you can add this sweet little gal to your die cut balloons. And she has so much nice detail on her you don't have to color her in. Can you say easy?

What wasn't as easy was getting those threads on there and knotting them! And I should have used my anti-static pad before heat embossing the sentiment gold offset over the red one. I'd used pigment ink and it looked dry ;) Guess it wasn't cuz the powder stuck to some of it and made the delineation less clear. Oops.

Here's what I did with some leftovers from the January release Uppercase and Lowercase Alphabet Plates. If you missed them, check out this post. I went with the totally graphic vibe I got from the inspiration and added some artsy color mixing too.

These little rectangles were masks I used when creating a bunch of Gelli plate prints. I used them to create my ransom letter style message. Topped it off with a heat embossed sentiment from Hello You.

Today we're using Becca's Big Grins stamps. From now until Feb 20 you can get most of Big Grins stamps at 10% off in the STAMPlorations store!

It's Gelli plate print time here on the blog. Ready for a Valentine's Day inspired card using Funny Kinda Love?

I started with the stamp set and a print with Valentine-y acrylic paint colors. Since I need a card for a young couple that just got engaged I opted for the image and the "congrats" sentiment. I heat embossed the image white onto red CS. I heat embossed the sentiment (and the heart) red onto a scrap of the Gelli print. Was originally going to put the sentiment onto white CS but then liked the idea of it blending better into the BG, although still providing a bit of dimension. Not too much though, so it wouldn't compete with the image of the couple! I fussy cut both and adhered them. Stitched around the edges and my card was done!

And if you're interested, here is another card using Funny Kinda Love.

So from now until next Tuesday, Becca's Big Grins stamp line is 10% off. With the STAMPGIRLMARIA discount on top, now is definitely the time to pick up any of Becca's stamps on your wish list, don't you agree?

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Have you seen the LOVE TAGplorations blog hop at the STAMplorations blog? Today is day 4, but you can catch up on all the fun in this post.

I have a another tag for you. And, like yesterday, a little bit more! I follow Thurston Post on IG and let myself be inspired by Rebecca's work - did you see my post yesterday? Well today I created a masculine gift wrap/gift bag.

The wrap/bag itself is made from recycled heavy paper which is used (rolled up) in the center of gift wrap rolls here in Germany! It's 11 inches in diameter with an opening up top, so this could hold anything from a gift card to a pair of boxers!

Check out the STAMplorations blog next Tuesday for my Spotlight tutorial on making this project. These are the products I used:

Are you enjoying the LOVE tag hop? You can leave comments or make a LOVE tag for the linky party to have a chance at winning some of these LOVEly new products or a GC. You can link up and leave comments until Valentine's Day! Thanks for hopping.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Have you been checking out the LOVE TAGplorations blog hop at the STAMplorations blog? Today is day 3, but you can catch up on all the fun in this post.

I have a tag for you. And a little bit more. I follow Thurston Post on IG and let myself be inspired today by Rebecca's work. It's enchanting really. If you've never visited, you must. After you peek at my creation! Here's the tag...

And this is the whole gift bag getup. Made from recycled heavy paper which is used (rolled up) in the center of gift wrap rolls here in Germany!

It's 8 inches in diameter with an opening up top. I'm planning to use it to gift a set of handmade cards, but you could use it for so many things.

Stop by the STAMplorations blog next Tuesday for my Spotlight tutorial on making this gift bag. These are the products I used:

Join us won't you? Link up a LOVE Tag in the linky party. And leave comments to win a GC or some of these LOVEly new products. You can link up and leave comments until Valentine's Day! Thanks for hopping.

And on a personal note... 2017 has been quite the downer so far in my world. Won't bore you with the details but among other things my Mom (who is in MI - I am in Germany) is having health issues. Many of you probably know how difficult it is to manage this from afar. The medical personnel are telling me it's a temporary medicine-related thing, but she feels miserable. I was wondering if any of you wonderful cardmaking peeps would care to send her a card to brighten her day? If so, please tell me in the comments and I'll PM you her address :)

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Today we're using Shirley's The Bees Knees stamps. From now until Feb 13 you can get most of Shirley's line of stamps at 10% off in the STAMPlorations store! Don't forget, with my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA you can earn 20% savings on top!

Feeling groovy I was. I warned you that February was going to be Gelli plate month here on the blog. Well I grabbed a print that had a groovy vibe and it became the background (die cut with Crazy Double Stitched Rectangles) for this heat-embossed-on-shiny-green-recycled-cardstock-ransom-style sentiment.

And the foreground for some randomly stamped blooms and clogs. I added a touch of pink Sharpie to the bloom centers to pull in the pink from the Gelli print.

Do you like this set? If you'd like to see more cards using this stamp set check here and here.

Remember, this week all of Shirley's older stamps are 10% off, HousesExtras is even 20% off. If you leave comments on the DT's inspiration posts you might win yourself a $10 GC to the store. Check out the lineup.

I adhered a bit of vellum to tone done the bottom half of the card. Then glued one of the masks on top of that and finished it up with the Awesome Word die cut from woodgrain CS and backed with fun foam. And the "U R"? That little blue square was a mask from a different Gelli plate print!

I sure hope you'll join us for some die cutting fun this month over at CUTplorations. Just make a project using die cuts based on our inspiration graphic. Be sure to use at least one STAMPlorations product and hook up to the gallery. Winners will be chosen by the DT. Here's the link.

Don't forget about my STAMPlorations discount code in the sidebar if you're in a hurry to get your hands on some new goodies ;)

Friday, February 3, 2017

It's Day 5 with the STAMPlorations Inspiration DT. Ready for the dies in action? If you want, you can check out the whole blog hop lineup in this post.

Until February 10, all 4 stamps and 3 plate dies from the January release are 5% off. (Plus you can use the 20% discount code in my sidebar on top ;)

The dies are the stars of today's post. Meet Lowercase Alphabet Plate, Uppercase Alphabet Plate and Numbers Plate. Talk about versatile - get individual positive characters in one fell swoop, or use the negative for layering or dry embossing a BG or stenciling, or combine both like I did in my last card today. But first things first.

You'll have to excuse me for these next two cards - my mind was totally besieged by "the media" craziness of the past few weeks and these two designs happened using the "leftovers" of the alpha dies, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle dies and Sketchy Alphabetstamps.

"I'd like to thank" La La Land and my Zig clean color brushes for the watercolory goodness in the supporting role. And my white gel pen. Used Lowercase Alphabet Plate letters.

Gettin' a Dr. Seuss vibe? Used the balloons from A Snarky Birthday to You for a background. Then I laid on the numbers and filled the "5" and "0" with gold foil positives. Over the top of that I added some stacked Alphas leftovers on vellum.

See the other die cut ideas from the DT in this post. There are prizes up for grabs for comments on our blogs, and the STAMP facebook and Instagram pages! Leave a comment by the 7th and check back on the 10th on the STAMplorations blog to see if you are a winner.

My card design looks so harmless, doesn't it? Til you read the sentiment! And this is one of the milder ones ;)

A very simple design, using various stamps from the set and flowing from navy in lower right corner to red, to orange heat embossing for the sentiment and on to yellow up top.

You can check out the DT makes with this stamp set in this post. There are prizes up for grabs for comments on our blogs, and the STAMP facebook and Instagram pages! And the release products are 5% off in the shop - plus you can get 20% more with my discount code in the sidebar.